Visible coin chute



Nov: 15, 193,.

D. C. ROCKOLA VISIBLE COIN CHUTE Filed Aug. 3, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

. HIS ATTORNEY.

Nov. 15, 1938.; D. c. ROCKOLA VISIBLE COIN CHUTE Filed Aug. 3, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

David C Rocfzola 1-115 ATTORNEY.

Patented Nov. 15, 1933 UNITED STATES V ants-er.

2,136,891 VISIBLE COIN CHUTE David C. Rockola, Chicago, Ill.

Application August 3,

12 Claims.

This invention relates to coin control devices and more particularly to a visible coin chute adapted for use with vending machines, coin controlled amusement machines, phonographs, and

the like.

A particular object of the invention is the provision of a coin chute having a transparent side wall and a plurality of coin pockets oppositely disposed therein, mechanism controlled by a coin slide for advancing coins from pocket to pocket with each operation of the coin slide, a determined number of coins being at all times in view of the operator and the advancing or shifting movement of the coins being visible.

A further and important object of the invention is the provision of a visible coin chute of the class described which will accommodate coins of varying size or denomination which will be retained in view of the operator during a determined number of operations of the coin slide or control.

Still another object is the provision of a visible coin chute of the type described which is inexpensive to manufacture, simple and sturdy in construction, and which is adapted to operate with unitary or gang coin slide mechanisms.

Further objects and novel features of construction and operation of the invention will appear as the following specific description develops in view of the'annexed drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a median vertical section of a cabinet structure including the improved coin chute;

Fig. 2 is a rear vertical view partially in section and taken along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; g

Fig. 3 is a front vertical detail of the visible coin retaining chute taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a top plan view along the line 4--4 of Fig. 1, with housing portions cut away;

Fig. 5 is a bottom plan view taken along the line 5-5 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 6 is a rear vertical section of a gang type of coin control as a substitute for the unitary control of Fig. 4.

'The novel coin chute mechanism shown in Fig. 1 includes a coin control or slide housing mounted in the top wall ll] of a phonograph cabinet and having a cover portion l2, a bottom wall Land a forwardly inclined apron I6 with a usual type officoin deposit mechanism including a coin slide Supported on the inner side of the front wall ll of the cabinet is the visible coin chute which 1936, Serial No. 93,953 (01.194-98) f tially fiat elongated plate 20 having an open side wall anda transparent closure plate 22 (see also Figs. 2 and 3) clamped thereto by means of straps or fingers 2 4.

This chutemember 20 is positioned with its transparent side wall confronting a window It in the wall H of the cabinet and, as particularly shown in Fig. 3, is preferably disposed on said sidewall adjacent one of the vertical margins of the window opening I3 in such manner that substantially half of the coin chute is disposed behind a cabinet wall ll with the remaining half of the chute extending beyond the edge behind the glass or transparent part of the window l3 to be in plain view;

The coin chute 2n hasformed therein a plural ity of oppositely disposed coin pockets 26 extended in side byside relation longitudinally of the plate, and adjacent pockets being separated by peak portion 28 directed laterally of the plate andsubstantially toward the middle part of an oppositelydisposed pocket .(Figs. 2 and 3).

The coin chute body ZQ'has at its upper extremity, as in Figs. 2 and 3,'a coin entrance zone 39 provided with an outwardly curvedlip 32 and at its lower extremity an exitopeningt l.

In thepreferred form of the device herein show'ngthe coin chute lid is preferably to be mounted on a vertical wall of a vending machine structure as illustrated, so that ,coins will be received in the entrance opening Siland tend to i move by force of gravity downwardly in the chute to leave at, the exit .34 thereof, and it will be obvious to those skilledih the art that other forces than that of gravity may be employed to cause coins to traverse the chute, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

The coin chutebody member 20 is preferably of a die cast construction and has a longitudinal central slot or channel 21 (Figs. 2 and 3), and on its back Wall 23 asshown in Fig. 2, is an outwardly extending flange 36 at onev side of the slot 21. Slidable longitudinally of the chute 20 in the slot 2'! thereof is an elongated coin shifting member orbar 38 (Fig. 1 and 3) having a plurality of headed stopping studs 40 extended in the plane of the plate-2i] with their outermost (right-hand in Fig. 1) extremities adapted to be substantially flush against the innermost surface of the glass closure plate 22-.

The shift bar 38 has an endmost flange 42 which extends outwardly through the slot or channel 21, and which has a horizontally extended stud 44 adapted to be engaged by the notched portion 46 of a cam plate 45 which is pivotally mounted as at 48 on the flange or arm 36.

The shift bar 38 is adapted to slide in the channel or slot 21 in such manner as to move the several coin stopping studs 40 thereof relative to the coin pockets 26 and the marginal or partitioning peaks 28 thereof; and the bar 38 is normally positioned in the slot 21 in such manner that the lowermost coin stud 40' abuts the lowermost extremity of the slot 21, thus limiting the downward movement of the bar and positioning stopping studs 40 thereof relative to the pockets 26 in such manner that coins C will be retained in the pool:- ets 26 by these studs, as shown particularly in Fig. 3, but when the rod 38 is moved upwardly in the slot 21 these studs 40 will be correspondingly moved to permit the passage of coins C from pockets 26 in the left-hand side of the chute as shown in Fig. 3, across to the pockets 26' in the right-hand side of the chute, and thereafter upon the return movement of the bar to its normal lowered position the coins retained in pockets 26 by studs 40 in their upper position will be released to move downwardly across the chute again into pockets 26 in a manner to be particularly described hereafter.

As pointed out above, the chute 28 is adapted to be mounted in a vertical position against the side wall I l of the cabinet by means of screws I! so that the outwardly turned lip 32 on the back wall 23 of the chute will lie below the lowermost extremity of the apron Hi to receive coins from the slide I 8, so that they will be directed into the entrance or coin receiving opening 30.

The cam plate 45 normally lies in the full line position shown in Fig. 1 with the slot 46 thereof engaging the stud 44 of the coin shifting bar 38, but may be pivoted to dotted line position by means of rod 58' which is attached to the plate 45 by an adjustable ball and socket connection 52 and to a driving lever 54 by a similar ball connection 50, the lever 54 being pivoted as at 56 on the bottom wall l4 of the coin control housing in the top of the cabinet (Figs. 1, 4 and 5), and having a return spring 53.

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 4 I have applied a unitary coin slide or control mechanism to the slide l8 on which is attached a depending arm 58 which is adapted to engage the end portion of the driving arm 54 when the slide is properly operated by deposit of a coin and pushed to the inward limit of its stroke, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4, against spring I9.

However, the novel mechanism is equally adapted to use with the gang or multiple type of coin slide such as shown in the U. S. application of one Smythe, Serial No. 22,962, filed May 23, 1935, such a gang control being shown in Fig. 6 and having an operating arm 58' engageable with the driving arm 54' upon operation of any of the several coin slides l8 thereof to move the pivot rod 50 and operate the coin chute mechanism.

The cam. plate 45 has a cam edge 49 which is adapted to ride against the stud 44 on the coin shift bar 88 when the latter has been moved toward the upward limit of its travel so as to hold the bar in upward or raised position until the coin slide l8 and its associated mechanisms have been returned to their normal position, at which time the cam plate 45 will be returned to the full.

line position shown in Fig. 1 with the peripheral notch 46 again engaging the shift bar stud 44.

Assuming the parts to be in the condition shown in Fig. l, the operator of the device will deposit a coin in the usual aperture in the slide [8 and push the latter inwardly to the limit of its travel, whereupon the coin C shown in the dotted lines in Fig. 1 will be released to descend by gravity over the apron l6 and into the entrance end 30 of the chute 20.

At the same time the depending arm 58 at the inward extremity of slide I8 will engage the extremity 55 of the pivoted arm 54 (Fig. 4) at which time the coin slide l8 will have moved through approximately a half of its stroke and cause the coin C to, be released therefrom as just described, and pivot the arm. 54 to the limit of its stroke as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4, whereupon the arm 5| which is attached to the pivoted arm 54 near its extremity 55 and which extends downwardly through the opening 51 in the bottom wall l4 of the coin control housing, will engage a control device such as the switch 60 shown in the upper left-hand corner of Fig. 1 attached to the underside of the top wall I0, and at the same time the connecting rod 50 transmits this backward movement to pivot the cam 45 into dotted line position and raises the shift bar 38 to its upward limit.

At this juncture the uppermost coin stopping stud 40 will be positioned immediately below the coin entrance 30 (Fig. 3) and the coin C just deposited by the operator, and which has descended over the apron I6, will be prevented from further descent into the chute until the coin slide I8 is retracted and the shift bar 38 again lowered to normal position by the return movement of the cam 45 and the operative engagement of the cam edge 49 thereof with the stud 44. When the bar 38 has been restored to normal position the coin held in the uppermost or entrance end of the chute will descend into the first pocket (Fig. 3), any coin previously disposed in that pocket having meanwhile been shifted downwardly to the next adjacent pocket and other coins previously disposed in other and lower pockets having similarly been advanced or stepped downwardly.

This stepping or advancing operation is accomplished by reciprocation of the shift rod 38 in the slot 21 so as to cause the several coin stopping studs 40 thereof to assume the full and dotted line positions shown in Fig. 3. As already pointed out, when the studs 40 are in full line position coins C will be retained in the left-hand pockets 26, but when they are raised to the dotted line position such coins will move across the chute into opposite lower pockets 26', these latter pockets being positioned relative to the pockets 26 in such manner that so soon as the shift rod is returned to normal position so that the studs 40 again assume their full line positions, any coins in the right-hand pockets 26 will move downwardly across the chute and occupy pockets 26, each coin respectively resting in a pocket below the pocket previously occupied by it.

In this manner a determined number of coins will be retained in the view of the operator during a corresponding number of operations of the coin slide l8, such function being of particular value to the proprietor of the machine so that he may observe the denomination and nature of the token or coin which has been used to operate the machine. Where the gang type of coin control is used, a plurality of coins may be deposited at substantially the same time and these coins may be of the same or different denomination, so that it will be especially desirable to afford the proprietor of the machine an opportunity to inspect the coins so deposited.

While I have described in detail a preferred embodiment of the invention, I do not desire to be restricted to such details except as may be hereinafter provided in the appended claims, since it is obvious that numerous variations and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, what claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is: i

l. A visible coin chute mechanism, for use with manually operable coin slides, comprising an elongated body having a transparent side wall, a plurality of adjacent coin pockets extended 1ongitudinally along one side of said body and a plurality of adjacent coin pockets with their openings disposed oppositely to those of said first pockets along another side of said body, a longitudinally slidable member between said pockets having a plurality of studs to retain coins in the pockets on one side of said chute when said slidable member is normally positioned, and to permit gravitating movement of such coins to the said oppositely disposed pockets when said member is moved from normal position, whereby coins may be simultaneously advanced from pocket to pocket through said chute, means for moving said longitudinally movable member including a cam plate pivotally supported on said chute for driving engagement with said longitudinally movable member, and means operatively connecting said cam plate with a said coin slide.

2. A coin chute structure including a housing having a bottom Wall, a coin slide, and a coindirecting member, and a chute disposed to rec'eive coins from said directing member comprising a body with an open side and coin pockets in oppositely disposed relation therein and having portions opening into said open side and toward oppositely disposed pockets, coin control means reciprocable on said body between opposite pockets to effect the gravitating movement of coins back and forth across said chute between opposite pockets toward an exit end of the chute, a transparent closure for said open side to permitviewing of coins therein, and means operatively connecting said reciprocable means and said coin slide and including a driven arm pivoted on said bottom wall of said housing, means drivingly relating said slide and driven arm, a cam member reciprocable on said chute body and adapted to reciprocate said control means when said coin slide is operated, and a member operatively interconnecting said driven arm and said cam member.

3. A coin chute comprising a chute member having an entrance and an exit end and means for effecting movement of coins from said entrance end toward said exit end including coin pockets opening toward one another on opposite sides of the chute and having their respective openings directed in a descending sense toward said exit end, control means positioned between opposite pockets normally preventing movement of coins out of said pockets on one side of said chute and movable to permit movement of coins from pockets on the said one side toward and into the pockets on the opposite said side and to permit further movement of coins from said opposite side back toward said first side and into pockets lower than those previously occupied when said means is returned to normal position, together with means for operating said control means to effect the aforesaid movement of coins toward said exit end, said chute having a portion through which said coins may be viewed.

4.] In combination with a coin controlled mechanism of the type having a reciprocable coin slide, coin chute means including a coin chute having a transparent side wall and a plurality of coin pockets having their openings staggered in opposite descending relationship, and means reciprocable between opposite pockets to permit coins in said pockets to descend back and forth across said chute toward the exit extremity thereof, together with means for actuating said last reciprocable means by the operation of said coin slide.

' 5. In combination with a coin controlled device including a coin slide, a visible coin chute comprising a chute member having an entrance and exit zone and a plurality of coin pockets extended in oppositely staggered relation from said entrance zone toward said exit zone, a member slidable between oppositely disposed pockets and having parts extended therefrom to retain coins in said pockets in one position and to permit descending movement of said coins back to opposite pockets in another position whereby coins may be moved from said entrance zone toward said exit zone, and means drivingly connecting a said coin slide and said reciprocable member and including a cam plate mounted on said chute for operative engagement with said reciprocable member.

6. A coin chute mechanism comprising: a'housing having a coin controlled device and a coin directing apron; a visible coin chute including an elongated chute member having a plurality of adjacently positioned coin pockets extended in opposite groups along the longitudinal margins thereof with their openings toward the center of said body member and in staggered relation to the openings of pockets along the edge opposite thereto; a control bar slidable longitudinally of said chute member-between said groups of pockets and having coin stopping parts normally positioned relative to the openings of pockets on one side of said chute member to retain coins therein and positionable my movement of said bar to permit said coins to gravitate across into pockets of the oppositely disposed group and again descend across said chute member into pockets of the first mentioned group when said bar is returned to the initial position; and means operatively connecting said coin-controlled device and said control bar for movement of the latter to permit the aforesaid movement of coins in said chute member when said coin controlled device is operated.

7. A coin chute mechanism including a housing having a coin-released control, a coin directing apron, and a visible coin chute comprising an elongated chute member having a plurality of adjacently positioned coin pockets extended along the longitudinal margins thereof with their openings toward the center of said body member and in staggered relation to the opening of pockets along the opposite edge, a control bar slidable longitudinally of said chute member between said pockets and having coin stopping extensions normally positioned relative to the openings of pockets on one side of said chute member to retain coins therein and positionable by movement of said bar from normal position to permit said coins to gravitate across into oppositely disposed pockets and again descend back across said chute member toward the first said pockets when said bar is returned to the initial position, means operatively connecting said coin-released control and said control bar for movement of the latter to permit the aforesaid movement of coins in said chute member when said coin-released control is operated, said means including a member pivotally mounted on said chute memher for engagement with said control bar to move the latter longitudinally between said pockets, a driving arm pivotally mounted in a wall of said housing, means on the said coin-released control for pivoting said arm, and means operatively connecting said drive arm and said pivotally mounted member.

8. A coin chute mechanism comprising a chute body having a series of open coin pockets extending from an entrance zone toward an exit zone therein and a second series of open coin pockets opposite to said first series with their openings oifset in descending relation thereto; a coin controlling member slidable between said series of pockets to effect the descending movement of coins back and forth across said body from one to another of said series of pockets in a direction descending toward said exit zone; coin controlled mechanism including a housing, a coin receiving slide, a driving arm pivoted on a wall of said housing, means on a said slide for pivoting said arm, a cam plate having a cam edge and a notched part in said edge and pivoted on said chute body, means drivingly connecting said driving arm and said cam plate, and means on said controlling member engageable by the said cam edge and the said notch therein to raise and lower said shifting member responsive to the operation of said coin slide so as to permit the back and forth movement of coins between said pockets.

9. A coin chute mechanism including a housing member having a bottom wall, a coin released control device mounted therein, a coin chute provided with means permitting the viewing of coins therein and means for directing coins from said coin slide toward said chute, said chute further comprising a member having two groups of serially extended coin pockets, the pockets of one group being positioned in an offset manner with coin receiving openings opposite to those of the other group and a coin shift-control member reciprocably slidable between the said groups and having parts adapted to retain coins in one said group and to permit the advancing movement of such coins back and forth between said groups of pockets when said shift-control member is reciprocated, and means including a cam mounted on said chute member and operatively engageable with said shift control member to reciprocate the latter, said means including a driving connection between said coin released control and said cam plate.

10. A coin chute comprising a body having an open side wall and a transparent closure therefor and coin pockets positioned oppositely to one another with opposite coin openings disposed respectively in oifset relation, and control means reciprocable between opposite pockets to control the gravitating movement of coins in said pockets in a descending direction back and forth across said chute in such manner as to advance a coin from pocket to pocket with each reciprocation of said means together with mechanism operable to reciprocate said control-means.

11. A coin display chute having a transparent face and comprising a member provided with two columns of communicating coin receiving pockets arranged in staggered relation and each tending to cause a coin therein to gravitate therefrom to the next lower pocket of the other column, a reciprocable member disposed between said columns and shiftable between upper and lower positions and provided with vertically spaced elements adapted when said member is in one of said positions or the other to release coins from pockets of one column for gravitation to and arresting the same in the next lower pockets of the opposite column, and means for shifting said member alternately from' one of said positions to the other to effect the intermittent movement of the coins down said chute.

12. A coin display chute having a transparent face for rendering visible the coins therein and comprising a member provided with two intermediate columns of communicating coin receiving pockets disposed in staggered relation and so arranged as to tend to cause coins therein to gravitate therefrom to the respective communicating pockets in the other column, a reciprocable member disposed between said columns and provided with vertically'spaced elements for preventing said gravitation of coins from the respective pockets when said member is in one of said positions, and means for shifting said reciprocable member from said position to release the coins in the pockets of one column for gravitation to the respective communicating pockets of the opposite column for effecting the intermittent movement of the coins downwardly through said chute.

DAVID C. ROCKOLA. 

